Board Games Fan Page at Graceful Boot

Introduction

This is the Graceful Boot board games fan page. I'll put my own contributions to gaming here, as well as link to web sites devoted to game design, game rules, and game reviews.

What's New?

Web Pages on Graceful Boot

This is a my collection of web pages devoted to my interest in board games and gaming in general.

• My Games Journal
  This is a journal (or is it more trendy to call it a blog?) of all the games I've played when I was actually keeping track.
• Federation Commander: First Missions Quick Play
  This is a PDF that makes the rules for Federation Commander: First Missions clear and easy to reference during the game. It adds cubes and player aids to make the game more of a Euro-boardgame.
• Hidden Conflict Clarification
  I had rules questions about Twilight Creations' Hidden Conflict and received clarification from the designer.
• Carcassonne Farmer Scoring
• Sunda to Sahul Starting Pieces
  Sunda to Sahul starting number of pieces based on the number of players.
• Zombies!!! setup variant
  I think the right length of time for each game should be about 30-45 minutes. That's about right to get into the theme without it lasting long enough to drag. This is a variant that works with the original rules and the Quick Play Rules.
• Icehouse Volcano 5x5 board
  This is a 150 dpi 5x5 board I designed for the Icehouse Volcano game. (PDF file) You can find the rules for Volcano here.
• Entdecker (Discoverer) Soeding Variant
  Integration of original rules of the original German edition and Emanuel Soeding's variant.
• Agora Clarification
  I had a question about how fires worked in Agora and received clarification from the designer.
• Java Strategy
  This describes the winning strategy for Java.
• Devil Bunny Needs a Ham Strategy
  This describes the winning strategy for Devil Bunny Needs a Ham.
• Acquire 100-75-50-25% Payout Variant card
  This is a handy reference card if you like to play Acquire with a four-player payout rather than a two-player payout. This variant insures that people don't get dropped out of the game early on. (Original by Bob Claster.)
• Bausack/Bandu Rules (Direct Play Variant)
  These are rules for use with a Bandu or Bausack set of pieces. These rules are a variant of the Bandu rules which are more to the point. You get to play the pieces you want, and you get to make the game hard for the person you want.
• Kill Dr. Lucky Strategy
  This describes the winning strategy for Kill Dr. Lucky.
• Shogun/Samurai Swords Manual
  This is a web page that makes the rules for Shogun and Samurai Swords clear and easy to reference during a game.

Link Exchange

• AL Creations
  Hand crafted Chinese Checkers, Chess and Checkers boards.
• Strategy Board Games
  Fleet Games offers board games for the whole family. Board Game based on Star Trek and Star Wars.
• Rainy Day Games - Canadian Board Game Retailer
  Sells war games, train games, strategy games and other board games from major publishers, including titles such as Settlers of Catan, Axis and Allies, and Empire Builder.
• Bored Stupid
  Bored Stupid is an independent games retailer providing the finest games from around the world. For everything from poker chips to games for the serious enthusiast pay a visit to Bored Stupid.
• DIY Board Games
  About having fun making your own board games, saving money, and providing years of enjoyment for the whole family.
• Play City
  Entertainment portal
• Games Directory
  Portal for various types of games.
• BoardGameRatings.com
  BoardGameRatings.com is dedicated to bringing you board game & card game information, editorial & user-submitted reviews, and the best games at the best prices.
• Hurt Your Brain Publications
  "My company is called Hurt Your Brain Publications and I design and make board games, card games, RPG and Social Level Games. I have a list of some of the games that are in the ready-for-sale category and a partial list of some of the games that are in the final stages of play testing. I also publish sci-fi (or mixed genre, as long as one area is sci-fi) books from new authors. Thank you for your time David Ginn Owner Hurt Your Brain Publications"
• Chess in Colour
  Chess Game with a different strategy.Played in colour.This variant chess game has a unique approach.When Pieces capture they both leave the board.Finish the game with the least moves.
• Farscape Games
  Wooden and themed chess sets and chess pieces, strategy games, word games, trivia games, family board games including Monopoly and Cluedo, traditional wooden games and much more all available to buy online at Farscape Games.
• Astroplane
  Welcome to the new Board Game of the Future! ASTROPLANE is based on astrophysics theory and terminology , but you dont have to be a RocketScientist to play!
• Boardgame Land (Japanese)
  My name is Mrs.SHIODA Tae. I'm one of board game fans in Japan. I'm so interested in board game. By the way, I have personal web site for board game fans in Japan. I'm introducing many revues and variants.

External Links

• Board Game Geek
  Board Games described and discussed, with rules, variants, links and session reports.
• Luding - The Board Game Database
  German board game resource.
• The Game Cabinet
  Dated board game resource
• Web Gronard
  Wargames list and links.
• Consim World
  Wargames news reported and discussed.
• Solo Board Games
• Spotlight on Games!
• The Internet Top 100 Games List
  
• Board Games Invention and Self-Publishing Resources
  Resources for game designers. The rest of the web sight has a lot of gaming material.
• Designer Resources
  
• 201mass.com
  Game news for Massachusetts via The Compleat Strategist.
• Terminal City Gamers
  Game news for Vancouver.
• Start of Goldland rules discussion thread on Yahoo Spielfrieks message group
• Decisive message with Goldland rulings
• Game Table Online
  This site will eventually offer cutting edge board games to online gamers.
• Used Board Games
  Lists of links about used board games.
• Robo Rally fan site
  Robo Rally fan site useful for its FAQ and board designs.
• The Great Games of Sid Sackson
  A nice collection of articles about games designed by Sid Sackson.
• Board Games at About.com
  I tend to avoid this site because of the predominance of ads, but it does have good info and useful forums.
• Grampa Barmo's Discount Game Magazine
  Paper newsletter about cheap board games. Has a list of links to cheap games websites.
• Family Pastimes
  Cooperative games for all ages.
• Discover Games: #1 Insider Info: Board Games, Game Design Tips, Toy Inventors, F ree Contests!
• Article: Board games fill long winter nights with traditional fun
  
• Play Research Studio: Sus Lundgren
  Has an interesting article titled: "Joining Bits and Pieces - How to make Entirely New Board Games using Embedded Computer Technology"
• brettspielwelt
  Play German board games online. Click on the UK flag for English language support.
• Brett & Board
  Information and News about German family board games and other Designer games
• Sagacity Games
  Support by publisher of Sunda to Sahul, and has lots of gaming links.
• Recording the gory details of the gaming life of Mikko Saari.
  Gaming blog. Found that I was being silently linked to. What a treat!
• The Games Journal
  A boardgaming monthly magazine.
• SpielBoy.com
  Board gaming for men.
• Guus Schijns' Gaming Page
  Interesting observations about different kinds of games.

Creative Gamers

• Dan Becker's Game Site
  Articles about gaming. I especially like his custom Settlers of Catan hexes, and his custom Sauron with glowing eye for Lord of the Rings!
• Philip J. Reed
  Game articles and information
• MONTE COOK.com
  Monte Cook: game designer, author, geek
• Transopoly
  A home-made Transformers Monopoly variant
• Michelle's Monster Game
  With enough requests, the author will put up a DIY kit to create the children's game.
• Eve's Medieval Games
  Handmade fabric board games.

Discussion Groups

• Spielfrieks on the web
  Discussion Group for board gaming around the world.
• Unity Games
  Discussion group for Eastern Massachusetts board gamers.
• Board Game Design
  Discussion group for board game designers.
• Piecepack
  Discussion group for the multi-purpose piecepack.
• Cheapass Games Discussion List
  Discussion group for Cheapass Games products
• Mechwarrior Collectable Miniatures Game
  Discussion group for WizKids' Mechwarrior Collectable Miniatures Game
• Zombies!!! Board Game
  Discussion group for Twilight Creations' Zombies!!! Board Game
• When Darkness Comes
  Discussion Group for Twilight Creations' When Darkness Comes RPG Board Game
• Icehouse
  Discussion Group for Looney Games' Icehouse multi-purpose pieces
• Board Game Coders
  Discussion Group about programming board games on computers
• Epic Duels
  Discussion Group for Hasbro's Star Wars Epic Duels
• Board Game Designers Forum

Retailers

• Fun Again Games
  The Amazon.com of board games... sold and reviewed.
• Danger Planet
  Gaming store in Waltham, MA, that has open gaming every night.
• Fine Games
  Retailer for used, hard-to-find games, generally wargames.
• Boulder Games
  Retailer for lots of new games.
• Noble Knight Games | Where The Out-Of-Print Is Available
  
• DO or DICE - RPGs, Wargames, CCGs, Board Games and More!
• Game Surplus
• Adam-Spielt
  German board game retailer with English text available. [Click on "Warenkorb."]
• GAMEPARTS.ORG Vintage and Used Board Game Store
• Fair Play Games
  Supporter of games by independent designers.

Sources for Game Rules

• Board Game Geek
  Board Games described and discussed, with rules, variants, links and session reports.
• Game Rules Show
  Game rules slide shows with voice track.
• Aardwolf Games
  A board game database.
• Archive of Rio Grande Games
  Archive of Rio Grande Games so you can get at the non-pdf rules.

Board Game Production Essays

• The Game Inventor's Guidebook
• Manufacturing or Marketing Your Own Game [Wiz War]
• Tomorrow Belongs To Us [Breaking Away]
• The Gory Details of Making Chaos Tiles
• Game Invention and Self-Publishing Resources - Spotlight on Games
• Talkin About the Biz, James Earnest interview at Cheapass Games
• I've invented a board game - now what do I do? by William Maclean
• Search for Poseidon's Gold -- The Making of the Board Game
• Jim Doherty interview
  Creator of Who Stole Ed's Pants, Monkeys on the Moon.
• Some GUIDELINES for PRODUCING SMALL EDITIONS of HAND-MADE PLAYING CARDS
  
• Sloperama game design lesson.
• Evolutionary Design
• The Nautical Board Game History
  
• Interview with Dan Sullivan
  Creator of Infection
• Inventing a Board Game is More Than a Roll of the Dice
  About the production of Scott Pardee's Chebache.
• Dragging a new board game to the table
  Celia Weiner's Driveway Deals.
• Board Game Manufacturing & Packaging
  Article by Ron Cohn, President of Paragon Packaging, Inc.
• Warfrog production message
  Age of Steam production snippet by James Hamilton.
• Fair Play Games Pair-of-Dice Interview/Warp 6 review
  
• Duel of Ages Development Notes
  (ZIPed PDF file)
• Axis and Allies 2004 revision preview
  Designer Mike Selinker talks about the design decisions bhind the new version of this classic game.

Game Pieces (Bits!)

• Plastics for Games
  They make game pieces and sell a wonderful sampler pack to play with!
• Cheapass Games Ultimate Bits Pack
  I've made a lot of use of this pack. It's useful for Cheapass Games, Steve Jackson Games, and whenever I need an extra bit or dice for other games.
• Game Parts, Inc.
• Dice and Games Limited
• Rolco, Inc.
  They'll send a small, free sampler pack with their brochure.

Custom (DIY) game boards, bits, boxes, ...

• Pearl German retailer
  At the top of this catalog page is a search box "Volltext-SUCHE". Type in "spielkarten". Then look for the result: "Spielkartenset 72 Blatt inkl. Software Spielkartendesigner". Another result is a set of 288 blank card sheets.
• The Martian Chessboard Section
  This page has a kit to make Martian chessboards for two to six players.
• Round Go board
  This page contains a PDF for a round game board for the game of Go.
• Making Custom Card Boxes
  This page has PDF kits to make custom playing card boxes.
• Cumberland Games & Diversions
  Paper cutout miniature gaming.
• Greywolf's Ironclaw Fonts
  Paper cutout miniatures.
• Ellison Product Catalog: Playing Card Die
  This link will take you to the Playing Card die for their punch die cutter.
• Sizzix Personal Die-Cutter
  Use this to cut your own game tokens. Look for medium punch squares and circles to hand-punch 0.9" tokens.
• Accu-Cut Systems
  Look for Game Board, Game Pieces, Game Spinners and Card-Playing. Also look for Math and Geometric Dies for Pentominos, Square, Circle, Hexagon, etc. dies.
• Round Table Chess 84
  Chess variant.

Link Requests

People asked me to add these links, but didn't offer to reciprocate. pffffth.

• Hello- 
  	  I was wondering if I could have a link to my website placed
  	  on your Links page. I think people looking for board games
  	  and information would find it very worthwhile to visit.  The
  	  name of the site is Boardgamesexpress and it can be found at
  	  www.boardgamesexpress.com. We would greatly appreciate your
  	  help.  Here is a short description which might be helpful to
  	  add: 
  	   
  	   Offers a wide variety of board games and information
  	  including party games, trivia games and card games. 
  	   
  	  I appreciate your time and I look forward to hearing from
  	  you!	 
  	   
  	  Thanks again, 
  	  Tim
  

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  Contents by Vitas Povilaitis email to vitas@GracefulBoot.com